Let’s imagine the follow picture: A child, stare at the window the ice cream car, which is passing along the street. The boy, hungry for a piece of ice cream, asks for some money to his mother. What’s happen next? The boy receives the ice cream and the seller has earned a couple of bucks. Now, let’s suppose that the same situation takes place over and over again. The ice cream seller, once a small and humble salesman, has increased his profits and he has now the potential to buy an ice cream factory; he’s no more in charge of selling, but now he directs and entire industry, making decisions and keeping workers at their duties. He has already enough money to buy a big house and to keep an entire family. The man sees his daughter staring at the window the ice cream car that is going along the avenue; the car stopped, and the man gives his daughter two dollars for ice cream… That’s, in simple words, what’s capitalism is. At least, it’s what they want us to believe…
Even though it’s a kind story and it contains valid facts about Capitalism, It is not that nice and soft as really is. We avoid lots of spots that if I put it on the story, the perspective changes 180 degrees. The Capitalism is, at first, an economic system based on producing and distributing goods (the land, factories, technology, transport system, etc.) are owned by a small minority of people. We refer to this group of people as the capitalist class. The majority of people must sell their ability to work in return for a wage or salary (who we refer to as the working class.)
The working classes are paid to produce goods and services which are then sold for a profit. The profit is gained by the capitalist class because they can make more money selling what we have produced than we cost to buy on the labor market. In this sense, the working classes are exploited by the capitalist class. The capitalists live off the profits they obtain from exploiting the working class whilst reinvesting some of their profits for the further accumulation of wealth.
Now, the story that we read at first, it becomes a nightmare. In the process, life under capitalism is increasingly one of work, consumption, debt, isolation, and emotional and spiritual emptiness. We are losing connection with the two most vital sources of meaning in our lives: community with other people, and communion with nature.
The governments and the industries are aware about that, but they do nothing because we are the main resource of the system. In that case, the power of people can be pour out by anarchy, or just being part of all the machinery that lets us to have cell phones, cars, a house, etc. It’s your call to do something, but be careful…the Capitalism trusts in you!
